February 04, 2010

Quinn's running mate says he has "no intention of stepping down"

While many Democratic leaders are suggesting Scott Lee Cohen consider stepping down as the party's lieutenant governor candidate U.S. Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias is calling for Cohen to exit the race.

"These are disturbing allegations," he said in a prepared statement. "Domestic abuse has no place in our society much less in public office."

UPDATE by David Heinzmann at 6:57 p.m.

Scott Lee Cohen vowed to stay in the race for lieutenant governor today, saying he has shown honesty and courage that will bolster the Democratic Party’s chances in November.

Acknowledging that he behaved badly while taking anabolic steroids in 2005 when his marriage broke up, Cohen said he understands why his past has caused a firestorm within the party. As of Thursday evening no other politicians had contacted him to ask him to step down, he said.

If they do, he won’t.

“I’m going to respond that my honesty and integrity in putting it out there is the best thing that could happen to the party," Cohen said in an interview with the Tribune, part of an effort to respond to growing calls among Democrats that he step aside and not risk dragging down Gov. Pat Quinn, his running mate in the general election.

Cohen did not deny choking his wife, as she alleged in the divorce, but said he had no recollection of it, and it actually took place before they were married.

His ex-wife, Debra York-Cohen, was with him today and said she stood by the allegations in the divorce but said his philandering and volatile behavior took place during a brief period time when he was using steroids. The allegations included him frightening their four children and threatening her verbally and physically.

“It was a short period of time, and it’s certainly not something that the people of Illinois need to be concerned with,” York-Cohen said.

UPDATED AT 6:22 p.m. with Cohen's media blitz, divorce records.

The Chicago pawnbroker who won the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor ramped up a media campaign this evening to defend himself in the face of growing pressure from party regulars to drop out as Gov. Pat Quinn’s running mate.

Quinn suggested Scott Lee Cohen should quit rather than risk dragging down the Democratic ticket in scandal over his background, including his 2005 arrest on misdemeanor domestic battery case involving an ex-girlfriend with a prostitution conviction. Other leading Illinois Democrats called on Cohen to quit, while acknowledging there may be little they can do legally to make it happen.

Cohen said he had no intention of dropping out and was the victim of false allegations. But as Cohen sought to set the record straight, with his ex-wife at his side for media interviews, the records from his 2005 divorce case portrayed a troubled marriage.

In the divorce records, Cohen’s ex-wife accused him of using illegal drugs, rages and abusive behavior, including choking her.

“Over the past year my husband has been taking injectable anabolic steroids, including but not limited to Winstrol, Cretin, and Steen, and as a result he has an erratic, explosive temper,” Cohen’s ex-wife, Debra York Cohen, said in a petition for an order of protection. She described rages at their children, his admission to several affairs, and alleged he tried to force himself on her sexually.

Cohen responded to some of the allegations in his petition to visit his children during the couple’s separation.

“Although I may have taken steroids and or performance enhancing drugs in the past I have not utilized any of these drugs in the last two weeks … Although from time to time I have screamed and yelled at my children, that is my parenting style and my prerogative. I have never abused my children, I have never hurt my children and I have never done any harm to them,” Cohen said, according to the records.

The divorce records contain a judicial order for Cohen to submit to periodic urine tests for drugs including steroids and other controlled substances. The divorce records also indicate money problems for the couple.

The record contains a Sept. 8, 2006 letter from a mortgage company demanding $23,557.26 for unpaid payments on a $650,000 mortgage for the couple's Northbrook home. The letter threatens foreclosure.

Posted by Monique Garcia, John Chase and Michelle Manchir at 12:05 p.m.; last updated at 3:37 p.m. with John Schmidt talking about 1986

The Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor issued a statement today saying he has no intention of dropping out of the race, just hours after Gov. Pat Quinn said the Chicago pawnbroker should consider stepping aside for the good of the party's ticket.

Scott Lee Cohen said he wants his ex-girlfriend to talk about her prior complaint against him, which resulted in his 2005 arrest.

Here is the statement, issued through the public relations firm that assisted his campaign.

"I have no intention of stepping down or stepping aside. When the facts come to light, after my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend speak, the people of Illinois can decide, and I will listen to them directly. I am asking my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend to come forward and to talk with the media.

There are questions, and I will provide all answers honestly and openly. I only ask for time to do the interviews. 2005 was a difficult time in my life. I was going through a divorce, and I started running with a fast group. I was in a tumultuous relationship with the woman I was dating. We had a fight, but I never touched her. She called the police, however, she never came to court, and the charges were dismissed. I realized this relationship was not healthy, I ended it, and we parted amicably."

Cohen then released a second statement: “I tried to tell everyone about this early on. I wanted to talk about all of these issues, but everyone wrote me off, and said I didn’t have a chance to win. Now that I’m the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, the day after the election, there are questions. I am happy to answer any and all questions; I just need time to do so.”

Cohen's statements came after Quinn said today that his new running mate should consider withdrawing from the race because his background could hurt the Democratic ticket in the November general election.

Cohen "has an obligation to step aside" if his past becomes a problem, Quinn said at a news conference.

"I do believe that the person who's had these matters brought up about himself should at least have a chance to talk about them to the public, but if his explanations are unsatisfactory, and so far they have been, then he has to do the appropriate thing," Quinn said.

"Our country and our state are bigger than ourselves. The Democratic Party is bigger than me or any other candidate. If there are matters that are raised about your conduct that disqualify you from running in a proper way for an election in the fall, then the only appropriate thing is to step aside. And I think that's what we're looking at here."

Quinn did not say Cohen's name once during the hour-long news conference.

Quinn also said he has spoken with Michael Madigan, the Illinois Democratic Party chairman and House speaker, about the process for finding a new lieutenant governor nominee should Cohen step down.

"In those circumstances, then the state central committee has to come together and they have to select a replacement," Quinn said. "Any of those who are interested in vying for something will have to wait."

Quinn also was asked if knew about Cohen's problems beforehand.

"No one in my campaign staff told me anything about it and I don't think anybody knew about it, at least I didn't," Quinn said. "I had no idea of these matters and I learned reading the papers, watching TV. I consider them very, very serious and grave matters. I think any citizen would feel the same."

Quinn said it was not the job of the Democratic Party to vet Cohen, but rather the job of the voters.

While governor and lieutenant governor candidates run separately in the primary, some candidates pool resources and campaign as a team. The idea is that a governor candidate doesn't want to get stuck with an undesirable running mate in the fall. Among Democrats, neither Quinn nor Hynes took a lieutenant governor candidate under their wings. On the Republican side, governor candidate Andy McKenna teamed up with lieutenant governor candidate Matt Murphy for campaigning purposes.

Democrats might pressure Cohen to drop out, but it's doubtful that they can outright force him off the statewide ticket as state law now exists. Democratic voters elected Cohen Tuesday after spent more than $2 million of his own money on his lieutenant governor bid. Cohen bested five other candidates, including some state lawmakers.

Election attorney Burt Odelson, who worked for Adlai Stevenson III’s gubernatorial campaign in 1986 when he was paired with an acolyte of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche, said there is nothing in the election law that would allow Quinn or the Democratic Party to force Cohen off the ballot.

“The Democrats and the Republicans are locked in,” Odelson said. “The governor and the lieutenant governor are tied together.”

The only way they can be split, Odelson said, is if Cohen withdraws or Quinn withdraws and formulates a separate party, like Stevenson did in the 1986 campaign he eventually lost.

“This is a very unique situation. It’s another chapter in Chicago and Cook County and Illinois history,” Odelson said.

John Schmidt, who was one of Stevenson’s attorneys in 1986, said he finds the situation Stevenson faced 24 years ago to be very similar to the Quinn is facing today.

“Stevenson decided there was no way you run for governor and say vote for me and oh, by the way, you also should vote for this other guy,” Schmidt said. Although they looked into trying to find ways to force LaRouche follower Mark Fairchild off the ballot, they discovered they couldn’t. So Stevenson eventually decided to withdraw as the Democratic nominee and launch the Solidarity Party.

“Short of him talking Cohen into stepping down...I don’t see how you can run with him given what we’ve known,” Schmidt said. “A guy who was arrested for holding a knife to a woman’s neck?”

Any efforts to try to pass a law in the General Assembly to negate the primary results, he said, “would be unconstitutional on its face.”

“After you’ve been through a process to say we don’t like the guy who won and try to change the law? That just doesn’t work,” he said.

He said Quinn’s best defense from this hurting the Democratic ticket is for him to be clear with voters.

“There’s a lot to be said with standing up and saying either Cohen gets off the ticket or I will run as an independent,” Schmidt said.

Quinn was faced with the new crisis even as his rival, Dan Hynes, announced he was conceding the Democratic primary nomination for governor.

Cohen, a pawnbroker who was the surprise winner in the little-publicized contest among half a dozen candidates, had previously disclosed his 2005 arrest. He described it Wednesday as an argument with his drunken girlfriend and said he didn’t lay a hand on her, though she called the police and had him taken into custody.

But the official police and court records show that the woman alleged Cohen put a knife to her throat and pushed her head against the wall.

In their October 14 arrest report detailing the complaint from the 24-year-old woman, Chicago police noted they observed “mild abrasions from knife wound” on her neck. They also noted “minor scars on her hand from her trying to defend herself against the arrestee swinging the knife at her.” The report notes the woman was seen by ambulance personnel but not taken to a hospital.

The case was dropped a month later when the woman did not show up for a court date.

Cohen won in large part because his self-financed campaign ran TV commercials late in the race showing him running job fairs to help the unemployed. He only garnered 212,900 votes but it helped him defeat opponents, including state Rep. Art Turner and state Sen. Terry Link.

A little more than a year after former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s removal, the state’s Democratic powerbrokers focused much of their time, energy and money on the top tier race of governor, leaving the less-known lieutenant governor’s race to go well under the radar.

The lack of a Democratic cohesive strategy leaves the party unclear of its options for the general election.

It also adds yet another punchline on Illinois politics, which has been the focus of national jokes and derision since Blagojevich’s high-profile arrest, impeachment and indictment.

In conceding the race this morning to Quinn, Hynes was asked how he’d feel if he had won and been paired with Cohen.

“The first I learned of any of this was when I read the paper this morning,” Hynes said. “But we’re going to let that sort itself out, and figure out, you know, with more information. I think that some decisions will be made. But I’m not in a position to make those decisions, given the fact that I just learned about it this morning.”

Cohen is scheduled to appear on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" at 7 p.m.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who would have to appear on the statewide ticket this fall with Cohen, echoed Quinn's comments.

“We would agree with the governor that Mr. Cohen needs to explain himself," White said in a statement. "He needs to address these issues, and if he can’t adequately, then he should consider strongly getting out."

The media, especially the Tribune is sooo hypocratically.
All media sources obviously had this information about Scott Lee Cohen BEFORE the election. But since this guy was white, running against 2 Black men this racist press would not report this. But you'll attack a BLACK WOMAN, Dorothy Brown, over something as stupid as "Jean Day". No wonder Black folks hate white folks you represent everything wrong with society.

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I blame the media. THIS IS ON YOU, CHICAGO TRIBUNE! Where were you guys? Seriously, you couldn't sell papers with this story BEFORE the primary? You had to wait until after he won to tell us all this stuff?? Seriously?

I'm more than a little bit angry about this. I voted for the guy, because I thought he ran the best campaign. And I assumed (wrongly) that if there was anything THIS BAD in his background, that fact might have made it to the surface by now. Guess I put a little too much faith in the media.

Nice Vetting, fellow Dems! Jesus, youve got to be kidding. He says he should stay in the race because he's "putting it out there" and being honest? No youre not! You were found out and now you are ensuring through your refusal to back down that we will have a Republican Administration in Springfield next November. I dont want him in office. The guys a rageaholic and seemingly unstable. It just seems like once again, Democrats could screw up a 2 car funeral....

Scott Lee Cohen and U.S. Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias are two great choices for the Democrats, who picked these two one a "tough guy" who hits women another a crooked banker "who claims he had nothing to do with the huge losses the bank suffered" , while he reaped millions in bonuses.
Oh yes, Blagojevich could not have picked a worse pair.
Illinois keeps stumbling in it's efforts to find one honest democrat to run-good luck you will have to search very far.
As long as you continue to reward crooks, wife beaters, union thugs, party hacks, campaign contributors, community organizers you will get what you deserve -CORRUPTION.

Er,. "adultery, partying with prostitutes, and injecting anabolic steroids" is a pretty darn good soundbite for an attack ad while staying solely within the bounds of fact, and not even bringing up the thing with the knife.

The real shame is the failure of the print and broadcast media to check out Mr. Cohen before election day. There always seemed to be something kind of hinky about him and when I visited his website Tuesday night, I discovered it was unique among campaign website -- it did not have any biographical information about the candidate.

Mr.Cohen, you have no business running for public office, much less the second highest post in Illinois. Your presence on the ticket will all but assure a Republican victory in November. Put your considerable ego aside and step down from the ticket before you put the Republicans in the position to destroy this state.

What a bunch of hypocrites! What exactly disqualifies Mr. Cohen? Steroids; Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took them for years. Alderman Walter Burnett was a convicted felon until the Democratic Party had to work out a full pardon for him. Here is a candidate that was never convicted of anything and apparently is now on the right course, but because he’s not an insider the party wants to get rid of him. Why doesn’t the Democratic Party clean their own house before they go after Mr. Cohn? The people have spoken; Mr. Cohn won fair and square.

Sad day in America when Taxpayer comments are censored; the machine is backup and running. The message is clear. Come on home boys let's get back to the pillaging. I am disappointed in the Chicago Tribune for allowing comments to be censored.

I'm sure this guy is "only human" just like Clinton, Edwards, and everyone else these days. "Everyone makes mistakes" right? I'm not even going the Tiger route because that horse has been beaten once or twice. Oh yeah and "what does it have to do with his role in politics?" Yeah good point. I always like that one. I'm going to take 2 lunches and surf the internet all day tomorrow in honor of yet another classic democrat moment!

BIG QUESTION: Why didn't the Democratic Party check Cohen out BEFORE putting him up for office? This seems really weird. If he LIED on his application or omitted information, they can probably kick him off now. What a major jerk. He and his ex-wife sound like two very very mixed up people.

Mr. Cohen, you drop out, you lose. Keep these people honest and keep up your campaign. Don't let these losers cause you to do something foolish and admit defeat before you even start. The machine can always find something to "Expose" and this is so trifling it would be embarrassing to let such a little thing be your undoing. You be on that ticket no matter what. You can win....

I am embarrassed for my state and for my party. Why weren't the leaders of my party paying attention? Oh well, we can only hope Sarah Palin wins the Guardians Of Privilege nomination for president in 2012. That would provide some nice schadenfreude.

Let's see here. The overall Democrat party ideaology has been for decades that people do their time for their crime, are rehabilitated, let back into society, and should be accepted and not hold their past transgressions against them and give them jobs - unless of course they are going to hurt an election bid then they thrown them out onto the street. Everyone else should forgive, but not when it will hurt them. NIMBYs.

Three questions:
What made Cohen think it was a good idea to run given these sordid accustions?
What made the Democratic powers-that-be think it was a good idea to let Cohen run on their Democratic ticket given these sordid accustions (even if they thought he didn't have a chance of winning)?
What made the local media think it was a good idea to not make these sordid accustions widely known BEFORE the election?

Can we say "Governor Brady"? Look for draconian cuts, like the end of public education, state universities, healthcare for children and closing state parks. Oh well, judging on how the people of Illinois elect leaders, the schools must not have been doing so hot anyway. Get me outta here!

The truth doesn't matter anymore Mr. Cohen. You're guilty in the court of public opinion and you'll doom the Democratic ticket if you don't step down. Too bad the Trib didn't wake up until after you suckered so many people into voting for you (I didn't).

All 50 aldermen on the Chicago City Council had to file paperwork earlier this year detailing their outside income and gifts. The Tribune took that ethics paperwork and posted the information here for you to see. You can search by ward number or alderman's last name.

The Cook County Assessor's office has put together lists of projected median property tax bills for all suburban towns and city neighborhoods. We've posted them for you to get a look at who's paying more and who's paying less.

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Clout has a special meaning in Chicago, where it can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. This exercise of political influence in a uniquely Chicago style was chronicled in the Tribune cartoon "Clout Street" in the early 1980s. Clout Street, the blog, offers an inside look at the politics practiced from Chicago's City Hall to the Statehouse in Springfield, through the eyes of the Tribune's political and government reporters.